TORONTO -- The Baltimore Orioles gave Kevin Gausman two unearned runs in the top of the first inning before he even took the mound Wednesday night, and he made them stand up.

The right-hander pitched seven strong innings as the Orioles ended a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Gausman is 3-0 with a 1.51 ERA in six starts this season against the Blue Jays as the Orioles (72-74) won the season series between the teams 12-7.

"I've had some good games against them this year," Gausman said. "It was more just kind of pitching toward my strengths and not necessarily to their weaknesses."

By salvaging the finale of the three-game series, the Orioles stopped a four-game winning streak by the Blue Jays (68-77).

Gausman (11-10) allowed six hits, one walk and one run and had six strikeouts.

"He didn't have a feel for his off-speed pitches early," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Then he got a feel for it around the fourth inning and really made it part of the repertoire."

Baltimore's Darren O'Day tossed a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts, and Zach Britton overcame a single in the ninth to earn his 14th save of the season.

"That was very big," said Trey Mancini, who had an RBI triple and a double. "At this point in the year there's not many games left so you want to win every single one. Today was a good start to try and get that rolling."

The Orioles are still barely alive in the chase for the second American League wild-card spot.

"Once we got those two runs I just kind of told myself 'Hey, those are your runs, that's all you're going to get today,'" Gausman said. "Unfortunately, that's the way it was but luckily I was able to pound the strike zone and keep mixing my pitches and keep them off balance. We're right there. We've just got to keep winning games. It was good to get a close win like that."

Toronto starter Marcus Stroman (11-8) allowed six hits, three walks and two unearned runs while striking out seven in six innings. Stroman has not won since Aug. 16, a span of five starts.

During the sixth inning, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and a trainer visited Stroman on the mound, and he made a warmup pitch before continuing. He is still feeling the effects of being hit on the right elbow by a line drive from Mark Trumbo on Sept. 2 in Baltimore that put him out of that game in the second inning.

"He grimaced on a pitch, we wanted to make sure there was nothing to it," Gibbons said. "But he was fine, he finished out that inning. You always get concerned when you see that. His forearm was a little tight. But he was good, good stuff tonight."

"I'm still dealing with that," Stroman said. "Still battling. Nothing I'm worried about, just felt a little tightness on one particular pitch but it felt fine the pitch after. I'm going to be fine to make my next start."

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson made a throwing error on Tim Beckham's grounder on the first pitch of the game.

"Josh, you usually don't see throws like that, first play of the game," Gibbons said. "That's rare but it happens."

With two outs, Blue Jays left fielder Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a fly ball hit by Adam Jones into an RBI double. Mancini followed with an RBI triple to the wall in center field.

"I think I made some good pitches there," Stroman said. "The only pitch I regret was the pitch to Mancini. I got in on Jones, he didn't hit it on the barrel, he just kind of muscled it out there. But the slider on Mancini just kind of slipped. I usually pride myself on being better in those situations. But I didn't do what I needed to do in those circumstances."

The Blue Jays scored a run in the third inning on doubles by Hernandez and Richard Urena, the latter coming on a bloop to left that eluded Mancini. Ryan Goins had a sacrifice bunt between the hits.

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth on a double by Mancini and walks to Trumbo and Chris Davis. The potential rally ended when Seth Smith struck out and Caleb Joseph grounded to shortstop to start a double play.

NOTES: Toronto INF/OF Steve Pearce (stiff lower back) is improving, but he still needs time to recover from his back issue, manager John Gibbons said. Pearce left the Friday game after the first inning. ... Baltimore LHP Andrew Faulkner cleared waivers Wednesday and was assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk. ... Blue Jays SS Richard Urena, LF Teoscar Hernandez and DH Kendrys Morales each extended hitting streaks to six games. ... Toronto LHP Brett Anderson (3-3, 5.90 ERA) will face Minnesota Twins RHP Jose Berrios (12-7, 3.94) Thursday in the opener of a four-game series at Target Field. ... Baltimore LHP Wade Miley (8-12, 4.96) will oppose New York RHP Masahiro Tanaka (11-11, 4.82) Thursday in the opener of four-game series at Yankee Stadium.